


Where the trees sing

by UnicornBooklion



Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: A Present, AU, F/F, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Romance, Very much an AU, but i swear i tried, forest, i hope its still good though, tried to slow burn but i think it actually happened too fast, very definitely an au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-28
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2018-11-20 13:37:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11336595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnicornBooklion/pseuds/UnicornBooklion
Summary: Annabeth, a lonely elf, finds Reyna, a lonely adventurer. Romance ensues





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [http://a-randomfangirl-a.tumblr.com/](/gifts?recipient=http%3A%2F%2Fa-randomfangirl-a.tumblr.com%2F).



> This work is part of the Feast of Fortuna 2017 gift exchange on tumblr.  
> I hope everyone who reads enjoys it!

Annabeth had never been too fond of humans. They were noisy and didn't respect nature. That hadn't prevented her from admiring their cultures, though, so she had taken every opportunity to learn about them and, sometimes, enjoy their customs. She had lived with Greeks, Romans, Ottomans, the Quin, and a million other people, but no time and place had ever been as bad as the Middle Ages. Shortly after the fall of the Roman Empire, she'd gone into hiding, most of her friends dead at one battle or the other. She'd taken no more than a few manuscripts, and had lived in the forest, unnoticed by hunters, for nearly eight centuries. That didn't mean she hadn't been known. Many children were told stories about a humanoid creature that lived in the forest and could help you if you got lost and were nice enough, and sometimes she visited towns to cure people with illnesses or to help those in distress. But it had all ended when the Inquisition started. It hadn't taken people too long to accuse the "creature" of witchcraft in hopes that it would take attention away from their own questionable habits. She understood why they did it, but it still hurt to see that families she'd been helping for generations could turn their backs on her like that, so she went back to the forest, intending to never go out again. But of course her resolution wouldn't last for too long.

It was a nice autumn day, neither too hot nor too cold, the Sun was out and animals were enjoying the remains of the summer's warmth. Reyna had decided that it was also the perfect day to go pick wild berries for jam, a family tradition that no one knew how or when it had started, but that everyone accepted. It really was the perfect day to do so: the berries would be at their best moment, ripe and juicy, just how the family younglings liked them. And so of course something had to go wrong. It didn't seem like it would: Reyna was an excellent athlete, capable of the most impressive stunts, and her health was enviable. But even the best of the best make mistakes sometimes, and Reyna was no exception. That afternoon she fell. She fell hard, one of those falls that no one likes too see because they go "ouch". It wasn't really her fault: a few misplaced branches on the floor, a scared mouse running away from a fox, and a bird screaming too high in the wrong moment aren't really something you can control. And, of course, there was the bad luck. Because there happened to be a downwards slope. And, obviously, she fell in it. And it hurt. Reyna wasn't an expert really, but she could feel the broken bone in her leg and see how her arm was twisted in a completely unnatural way (it also hurt, but that could have been deduced by the most oblivious of observers). As she tried to orientate herself, because falling does that thing where it makes you lose sense of place and even time, sometimes, she noticed that she was in a new part of the forest, somewhere she'd never been before. It was strange: she'd always felt connected to the woods, the old trees and the youger ones, the smell of fallen leaves in Autumn and the sound of activity during the Summer, but now it seemed like everything was gone: there were no animals to be seen, and the trees weren't pines like in the other parts of the forest. They seemed more ancient, more magestic and intimidating, but also more warm and welcoming, despite the lack of sounds and movements.

Reyna tried to stand up cautiously, partly because of her broken leg, partly because she wasn't sure what lived there that might get angry at her. It hurt, but moving was always better than staying in one place, like an animal waiting for a predator to get it. She looked at the slope she'd fallen down, and decided it was too risky trying to climb it up, although it was probably just as risky, or even more, to explore a new place with only one hand and one leg functioning properly. She picked up a stick to use as a walking aid, and, though it was subtle, she saw that it grew to fit her height better. Her instincts told her to drop it and run away, that no dead branch that did that could be safe, but fear of being alone and with no help made her hold on to the thing and start walking at a slow, steady pace. She followed the line of the slope, which seemed to go on for miles, and grabbed a few berries that she recognized as safe from the other parts of the forest to eat. But even she wasn't ready to last in such conditions for a too long time, and she ended up collapsing little before the sunset. It hadn't been planned, and her hunter's experience told her it was a bad idea to leave your body unattended in unknown terrains, but no one's body listens to reasoning, and when it's too tired to carry on it just rests.

Reyna woke up in a place she didn't recognize. It was the middle of the night, judging by the sky outside, but the room she was in was brightly lit and had a Summer heath-warmth to it, which she attributed to the fire that also produced the light. It wasn't a natural fire, that was obvious: it was both too bright and too warm to be normal, and the flames danced with green hues that obviously didn't belong to normal flames. She tried to get up before realising that her leg was tightly bound by bandages that didn't allow the slightest movement, so she gave up and decided that sitting up would be enough to at least scan her surroundings.

After struggling for a few minutes with her leg and her arm, whose state lowered considerably her ability to move, she managed a more or less comfortable position. The bed in which she had been sitting was somehow closer to the ceiling than most beds, which tended to be just a mattress on the floor. This had the advantage of allowing her to take in everything in the room. It wasn't really a big space, but the small furniture and the way in which it was arranged gave the impression that it was more spacious than it actually was. It was strange, clearly crafted with great skill, although she didn't know anyone in the area that would've been able to do something like that. She was wondering where it might all have come from when someone appeared at the doorframe, startling her. At first it wasn't possible to make out who it was: the light coming from behind the person made them seem an identity-less humanoid. Then the figure stepped into the room, and Reyna could make out its female features, with long, blonde hair that went down in beautiful curls, and eyes that shined with intelligence and the sharpness of a cat evaluating the situation. Then the woman spoke, and Reyna thought she couldn't be real, that she had to be a creature come out of a fairy tale, with soft angellical voice and an effortless posture that asserted her dominance over the room.

"Hello, human. My name is Annabeth. Don't worry, I'm here to help".

"What are you?"

"What I am is of no importance to you, although, if you must know, I am an elf."

"I thought those weren't real. Why did you bring me here anyway?"

"I have helped your kind through many troubles. I have celebrated and mourned, and never have I gotten a single bit of grattitude. But you still deserve to be helped when in need, and I will never refuse one of you that.

The human tried,forgetting her leg, to get up again, wanting to get closer to the creature that did not seem real at all. It was stupid of her, and she almost instantly collapsed into the bed, feeling as if all the energy had been suddenly drained out of her body.

 

*** 

 

Reyna woke up in several occasions in the following time, losing track of hours, days, and weeks. Sometimes she was alone, and other times the elf was with her, making sure the flames were still active or feeding her out of a small, wooden bowl. After what could have been a minute or a year of this restless sleep, her body couldn't stand the inactivity any longer, and she decided to get up and explore what was around her. This time her leg allowed her to walk, although it was slightly painful and nowhere near the elegance and silence her walking usually had. She walked through what seemed endless corridors, leading to rooms full of books and scientific equipment, or at least things that looked like it. She eventually made it to a door that led to the forest, but to a part of it that she did not recognise. The elf -Annabeth?- was out taking care of a small orchard, watering plants and making sure there were no bugs eating their leaves, but she turned around as soon as she heard Reyna approaching.

"Hello, adventurer. How is your recovery going?"

"I'm not having any of this, elf. How long have I been knocked out?" Annabeth ignored Reyna's attitude and answered calmly.

"Around a month. You really can't expect to wake up like new after the fall you had and, more importantly, after being bit by a insert daughter of the night." The elf shot Reyna a terror-provoking glance before returning to her work

"I have no memories of anything biting me, though."

"Of course you don't. It did not bite your body,but your soul. You humans tend to overlook way too much all that does not concern your little physical world." The elf, possibly after centuries of dealing with humans who knew as little as Reyna, looked exhausted, as if she'd had the same conversation millions of times.

Reyna fell silent with disbelief. It couldn't be possible that such a creature existed, but then again, elves weren't supposed to exist either and there she was, talking to one.

"How do I know what you're telling me isn't just a lie?"

"Come here." Reyna, although with some doubt, obeyed. "See this mark on my arm? it means I am an elf: in heritage, in spirit, in everything. If you know the old stories, the ones your ancestors stopped believing because they told truths too harsh to handle, it also means I cannot lie. Of course, you can also ignore all of this and go back to your previous, blissfully ignorant life." Reyna still looked unconvinced. "I mean it, adventurer. I want to help you. I will bring you no harm. Just let me do it."

Reyna didn't want to believe it. If it was true, it also meant there were other /things/ in the world. The old stories told tales of murderous creatures that would stop before nothing to get their way, and of horrors that could make even the bravest of warriors want to curl up in bed and disappear from this world. But there were also tales of magical creatures that wanted to help humans and that could make their lives incredibly easier.

The two women, one incredibly old, almost as much as time, and the other blissfully young, stood next to each other while Reyna -and the universe, somehow- tried to accept these revelations. It had been centuries since a human had actually known of all the other beings with which they shared their world outside of legends and tales made up to scare younglings into behaving properly, and it would definitely bring changes in how the world worked. But the world had been sitting silent for too long, and it was time to aknowledge the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Feedback would be highly appreciated :D


	2. Chapter 2

The changes weren't immediate. In town, out of her reach, Reyna's family mourned her death, without her being able to do anything to let them know she was still alive and well, for the part of the forest in which the elf lived was unknown to her and she did not want to offend the creature by asking to leave. Instead, the girl had started helping Annabeth with her chores, which weren't really that many. In the time when Annabeth was gone, she explored the house, which was actually a bunch of rooms connected by narrow hallways between trees. One afternoon she found a beautiful library, full of books more ancient than her family's history, and, with permission from the elf, had taken up to reading there some afternoons. It was a great place to spend time, with more books than she could probably read in her entire life and an amazing atmosphere which almost made her feel at home. She was one of the few literate women in her town, her family being insistent on their women being able to defend themselves with literature because, as her grandmother had always said, words are the sharpest of swords. It was a fabulous time killer, and she often did not realise how fast days went by.  
Reyna had no idea what the elf was up to when she left the house and got deep into the forest, sometimes for hours and a couple of times even for a few days, so it was an enormous surprise when Annabeth invited Reyna to go with her. It was slightly awkward, and Reyna could've sworn she saw the elf blushing, but none of them were really uncomfortable in the other woman's presence. Annabeth taught Reyna about all the new plants she didn't know before, and in return the human taught Annabeth about her people's customs and habits.   
After a while, the invitations to go for walks became more frequent, and it didn't take Reyna long to simply start accompanying Annabeth whenever she saw her walking away from the house. They got to know each other, forming a strange bond that no one would have thought possible not long before. Reyna started noticing the little things about the elf's behaviour, things that probably should have seemed flaws but that only made her think of Annabeth as more wonderful. On the other hand, Annabeth, who never had stayed long enough at one place to get to know someone so well, had started to see Reyna as part of her life instead of thinking of her as a random encounter that happened to need help. They went on long walks together, enjoying the other's presence as if they had known each other all their lives.

***

One afternoon, a cold, winter one, the two women were cuddling by the fireplace, sharing the heat and reading contently. Reyna thought Annabeth couldn't look more beautiful, with her long curls resting on her shoulders and her brow furrowed in concentration as she read through a particularly intense passage of her book. Reyna didn't know where the impulse came from, but a moment later she found herself kissing the elf softly and lovingly. After a few seconds, she realised what she was doing and that there was no response, so she backed away, bracing herself for the look of rejection on Annabeth's face.  
"I'm..... I'm sorry.... I shouldn't have done that..." Reyna dared look Annabeth in the eyes and found, to her surprise, deep affection.  
"You don't have to be sorry. I was just.... shocked. I didn't see it coming."  
"You don't... hate me? Feel disgusted?"  
"Why would I? If what just happened is any indication of your feelings, I must say I feel the same way."  
Reyna didn't know what to say or do, so Annabeth took the initiative and kissed her, a deep, longing kiss that wasn't as soft as the previous one but that was just as loving, or even more. When they pulled away, gasping for breath, neither of them spoke, and they just sat there, hugging and soaking in each other's presence and love. They stayed like that a long time, until both of them eventually fell asleep.  
The next morning, Reyna woke up feeling better than ever, and as content as one can be. Although she felt bad for postponing going back home for so long, she decided that, for now, the only thing that mattered was enjoying the present.  
And thus, a human and an elf lived happily together in a lost place in the forest, waiting for the moment when it would be safe to share their secret with the rest of the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty happy with how this turned out, so I hope you enjoy it too!  
> As always, feedback is highly appreciated. Thank you for reading!


End file.
